LITMIR.BIZ

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that one out. The fact was driven home when the article stated that the girl’s father had been absent from her life.

      At the time, he thought he had good reason for leaving. Now he wasn’t so sure.

      Regret stabbed at him when he remembered how difficult he’d been. How withdrawn. He’d been plagued by nightmares, riddled with guilt over what had happened overseas. How could he ever make Claire understand that pushing himself, going to the extreme, had been the only way to quiet those feelings? It had worked, but only for a while. The guilt always came back with a vengeance. It wasn’t until after he’d found a connection with God a couple years ago that he’d been able to find peace within himself. It had taken being jumped in a dark, grungy alley and nearly losing his life to get to that place.

      Now he did his job for the right reason. He was no longer running from the past but living for every moment when he could reconnect a person with their loved ones. Sure, his job was still dangerous, but he was good at it. He was cautious now in a way he hadn’t been back then.

      He’d returned from breaking up a human trafficking ring just this morning. Now he wished he’d returned weeks ago. He could’ve been helping Claire all along. Helping her with what, exactly, he wasn’t sure yet. He was going to find out. She’d mentioned Xavier Ambrose a few times now.

      While reading about the murder of Jared Mitchell, Xavier’s name had come up several times. They were business partners who owned a successful hotel chain.

      The media suggested a volatile marriage between Claire and Jared. His gut instinct kicked in. Claire and volatile were not words that belonged in the same sentence. If their marriage was truly volatile, he had no doubt Jared was to blame.

      Alex felt a surge of anger. His mind took off with scenarios he didn’t want to think of. If Jared had hurt her...

      He pushed out a breath. If Jared had hurt her, he would face judgment with the Lord for that. There was nothing Alex could do. Especially not now that Jared was dead.

      He reached the Jeep and hopped inside.

      “Do we have a place to stay?”

      “We do.” He held up the key. Claire’s face was plastered on newspapers, the television, the internet. They both knew she had to stay out of sight as much as possible. “It’s the one on the end.”

      He drove the short distance to the last cabin in a row of five. All were painted the same deep brown with green shutters. Only one cabin in the middle had a car parked in front of it.

      “Tomorrow morning we’ll have to run into town,” he said. “I’ll need a couple changes of clothes. I had a duffel bag in the vehicle I left behind, but we’re obviously not going back there.” He tapped the backpack she clutched on her lap. “Do you have enough to get by?”

      “I should.”

      “Let’s get you into the cabin.” He got out, pulling the seat forward. Roscoe dropped to the ground with a grunt. His stubby tail wagged as he scoped out their new surroundings.

      Claire clutched her backpack as she followed.

      Alex quickly opened the door, flipped on the light and ushered Claire in.

      The cabin was sparsely decorated but appeared to be clean. When he went into town for clothes, he’d have to grab some groceries, as well. There was no telling how long they would be there.

      “It’s not exactly paradise,” he said to Claire, “but it’ll have to do.”

      She gave him a cool look. “Compared to where I’ve been staying, it is paradise. At least it has running water.”

      “How did you get by in that shack?” Alex asked.

      “I took the Jeep into town a few times a week. There’s a truck stop that has showers. I had a propane cookstove, water jugs, a cooler. I made it work.” She moved into the cabin, placing her backpack on the table.

      “You went into town and no one recognized you?”

      “I was careful.”

      “How careful?” It seemed like an awfully big risk to take. She had told him a bit about the Jeep. He already knew she’d purchased the Jeep it in cash from an old farmer. She hadn’t changed the title card on it and the thing didn’t have insurance.

      They should ditch it as soon as they had the chance. Not only was it illegal to drive, but Xavier’s men had seen it. They’d be on the lookout for it.

      “I wore a disguise every time I went to town.” She frowned. “I had no choice. I needed an internet connection. I used the connection at the local library. They had chairs scattered all over the upper level. I could charge my laptop and research at the same time. No one paid any attention to me.”

      “Care to tell me what you were researching?”

      “I can do better than that. I’ll show you.”

      She tugged the backpack’s zipper down. Reaching in, she pulled out a black binder. “Xavier Ambrose killed Jared. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough evidence to prove it.”

      She handed the binder to him.

      “Tell me what you need from me.”

      A sharp laugh cut through the cabin. “What I need from you?”

      He realized that could be a loaded question. Or maybe not. She was looking at him as though the only thing she needed was for him to go away.

      “You need help,” he said firmly. “That’s obvious.” He offered up a small smile. “Though I have to admit, seeing you take down two men with nothing but pepper spray was a pretty amazing sight. You must’ve used the good stuff. Police grade.”

      He knew the stickier spray wouldn’t blow back in the sprayer’s face. The heat of the red pepper spray would be debilitating. Because it was a gel, it was harder to clean off. She had made a good choice.

      “I didn’t take them down with just pepper spray,” Claire corrected, “I took them down with Roscoe’s help. Without him startling them the way he did, I think the outcome would’ve been very different.”

      He couldn’t argue with that.

      “Read through that information and tell me what you think,” Claire requested. “That’s all I need from you right now.”

      He clenched the binder in his hand.

      Roscoe whined as he leaned against Claire’s leg.

      Alex knew he was being ridiculous, but he felt as if Roscoe was holding a grudge. Though Claire was too panicked to realize it was Alex coming out of the woods at the shack, he was pretty sure Roscoe had known. The dog had stuck by Claire’s side, not acknowledging Alex until he’d commanded the dog’s attention. Even now, Roscoe was making it clear who his real owner was.

      Alex couldn’t blame him. He’d abandoned the dog, as well. It didn’t seem to matter that Alex had spent countless hours working with Roscoe, turning him into the disciplined animal he was today. They’d spent many afternoons going for jogs or playing fetch. But in the end, the dog had become Claire’s, and Claire’s alone.

      “I should take him out,” she said.

      “I’ll do it. I’m not having you walk around out there in the dark.”

      “You said there was no chance we were followed.”

      “I stand by that.”

      “Then what do you care if I’m outside, alone in the dark?” She wrapped her arms around her slender waist.

      He heard the challenge in her words and sighed.

      “Look, Claire, I don’t want to fight with you. I think we’ve done enough of that to last a lifetime.” He raked his free hand through his hair. He wanted to ask her about Mia, but one look at Claire, so on edge, warned him it wasn’t

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